Pawelek Named Heartland Hitter of the Week

San Antonio – St. Mary’s University outfielder Michael Pawelek was named Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week for his performance last week against Lincoln University, it was announced by the conference office on Thursday.

Pawelek (Sr., San Antonio) had his best week as a Rattler, hitting .600 with five homeruns, 13 RBI and nine runs scored, helping the Rattlers to a four-game sweep of Lincoln. In Saturday’s doubleheader he was retired in each of his two at-bats of the day. But starting with his third at-bat he went on a monster streak. He smacked homeruns in each of his last two at-bats of the first game, and then followed that up with long balls in each of his first three at-bats of the second game.

The three homeruns in a single game tied the St. Mary’s school record, while the five homeruns in five at-bats is a new school record. His eight RBI in a single game is the second most in school history. He had at least two hits in all four games in the series, including three in the second game of the series, all homeruns, and a career-high eight RBI.

For the season Pawelek is now hitting .317 with 12 doubles, a team-high 11 homeruns, 49 RBI, 45 runs scored and a .587 slugging percentage.

Pawelek’s selection marked the sixth time this season that the Rattlers have had the Heartland Player of the Week. Offensively Ray Camacho (Sr., Converse) has been named Hitter of the Week three times; while Cody Pyle (Sr., Spring Branch) and Ricky Gonzalez (Jr., Houston) have each earned the honor once. Tommy Vrzal (Sr., San Antonio) has been named Heartland Pitcher of the Week twice.

The Rattlers finished the 2007 regular season with a 38-16 overall record and a 30-10 mark in Heartland Conference play after sweeping Lincoln last weekend. The Rattlers will now wait to see if they will advance to the NCAA South Central Region Tournament. St. Mary’s finished the regular season second in the Heartland Conference, just one game behind St. Edward’s, who had a 31-9 HC mark. Selections for the South Central Region Tournament will be announced on Sunday.